Bonds of a Lifetime
by Tempest35
Summary: Headcanon drabbles of our core trio of Fairy Tail, that may or may not have occurred in actual canon. Stories of friendship, humor, and discovery of each other and themselves. Will probably include characters throughout the guild but they will always include either Erza, Gray, or Natsu.


Heylo~ T35 here with another story. Actually this will be my own Drabbles Collection for Team Natsu's shenanigans before Lucy came on board. Not that I have anything against her (honestly, I don't), I'm just focusing on Erza, Natsu, and Gray on the years they knew each other leading up to that fateful day in Hargeon Harbor. For the most part, this will be headcanons of what some of the adventures our trio was engaged in growing up. It will have tie-ins to 'Don't Die Erza' - happens in the same universe, so to speak. Some of them might be sprinkled with slight romantic overtones as the characters age up but those will be clearly marked/defined so as not to offend anyone with them being 'too young' and all. Aaaand there exists the possibility of me writing out my own re-write of the Fairy Tail story so I'll be referencing these little drabbles throughout it. So just read it as you would watch a flashback sequence and everything should be great. So without further ado - *ahem*

 **The following is a fan-based work of fiction. Fairy Tail is the product of Hiro Mashima, A-1 Pictures, Funimation, and Kodansha Comics, INC. Please support the official release whenever possible.**

And also support me so that I'll stop PMing people on here with ideas for my stories and get around to actually writing them out so you all can read them. I'm really horrible with that...

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 **The 'Knight and Dragon' Game**

"No!"

"Natsu, we've been over this. You're the dragon that's rampaging through the country and stole Princess Lisanna. I am the brave knight who is coming to save her. Why can't you ever stick with the story?" Erza sighed as she put her hand on her head. Normally, she could just make Natsu do what she wanted but when it came down to it, Natsu was Natsu and if he didn't like something, he would let you know.

"Because it's always the dragon dying at the end!" Natsu's heartfelt shout caught everyone off-guard. Lisanna, who was apart of these little 'plays', had an inkling that this was going to happen but Erza and Gray had no idea. "Why! Why does the dragon always have to die at the end!?"

Erza had to think fast. Natsu was incredibly emotional, especially about dragons. She felt especially bad since she was the one who brought it up to enact some of the stories she had read about. "It's...it's just the way the stories are written Natsu," she tried to begin gently but the little pink boy stomped his foot.

"If that's the way, then I quit! Dragons just don't run around, breath fire, and destroy stuff!"

"But it's what YOU do," Gray jeered, at least until Erza slapped the back of his head with probably more force than necessary. That was probably true since he ended up face-first in the ground. "What was that for!?"

"You know why, stop being immature," Erza's cold gaze made him shiver in a way a winter snow could never do. Her eyes became far more gentle when she looked at Natsu standing their, his tiny fists trembling. S-so cute... She blinked. Oh no, she was starting to think like Mirajane. "Natsu we know that. Dragons are strong and smart, right?"

"So why...why does everyone want to kill them...?" At this Natsu couldn't hold back his tears, even as he stood there, frustrated and angry that he was crying like this.

"Natsu," Lisanna immediately went to his side. "Natsu, it's okay."

"No it's not! Everyone still makes fun of me for being raised by a dragon - by Igneel! They say that I'm too weird! But nobody wanted me! Only Igneel raised me! Igneel was... Igneel was...!"

A pair of arms wrapped around Natsu's head and pulled him close to their owner. Natsu's eyes bugged out as Erza's scent overpowered him for a split moment and he froze. "I'm sorry, Natsu." She didn't say anything else but continued to hug him. "We won't ask for you to do this any more."

For a moment, Natsu really wanted to just cry but not with Erza and everyone else watching. Besides, it wasn't like he didn't have fun playing a 'strong, rampaging dragon', he was just sick of the dragon always having to die all the time! Taking a breath, he pushed Erza to arm's length and looked up into her questioning face. "It's...not that. I just don't want you to kill the dragon. Dragon's can do other things too."

"I know!" Lisanna exclaimed. "We can change the story! No one said that we had to stay with the same story all the time!"

"Yeah, just let the Matchstick win a few times, he'll be alright," Gray supplied, still nursing the bump on his head.

"No," this time it was Erza who objected. "I refuse to hold back, if Natsu wants to win, he's going to have to beat me fair and square," she proclaimed.

"Grrr! I know that much! I don't want to win against you half-assed anyway!"

Erza smiled, even though Gray and Lisanna implored her to reconsider. She knew that Natsu, a dragon would not want pity shown to him in a match. The life in his eyes, the determination. Her little dragon was back and he was not going to take no for an answer. Besides, she had an idea on how to keep the 'dragon' alive in the story after all ...

 _~some time later~_

"He-heavy~" Natsu was on all fours, his little arms trembling in his effort to stay up. On his back was the very enthusiastic Erza waving her toy sword above her head with a completely satisfied look on her face.

"Come now, my faithful steed! We must away back to the castle," she proclaimed, brandishing the weapon. "I must tell this story to the king as I present his daughter back safe and sound!"

Lisanna, who was riding behind Erza on Natsu, looked almost as distressed as their 'mount'. The poor boy had not only gotten pummeled in his 'battle' against Erza but now he was forced to carry them all the way back to the Guild. "Um, Erza, I mean, 'Miss Knight', it looks like your 'steed' isn't going to make it..."

"Nonsense! A dragon is strong and full of pride. He'll definitely fulfill his oath to be my mount in the place of the horse he ate!"

For Gray's part, he was having a blast. Who knew that Erza had such a sadistic streak in her? Technically keeping the dragon alive by making him the knight's new mount - genius. Only that Erza was pretty darn heavy for a girl, even without her armor. But he wouldn't utter those words outloud on pain of death. "Heh heh, I bet Pyro wishes he was 'dead' now."

"Sh-shut up..."

Erza kept her smile on her face. It felt good to change the story up once in a while. Already, she was thinking of what to do for Gray's turn when she had to fight the 'Rogue Ice Men'.

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Hope you enjoyed it! Should be more to come~

 **Keeping the dream alive, one chapter at a time. /micdrop**


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